MUMBAI: June 2011 witnessed a higher number of movie releases as compared to the first few months of this year. The Cricket World Cup and IPL dominated the scene, till June saw the biggest releases after the sporting month. More movie releases automatically increases the chance of pirates moving on the street.
To combat this, the Alliance Against Copyright Theft (AACT), a coalition between Bollywood and Hollywood studios, has increased its vigilance on curbing piracy related activities across the country.
During June, AACT has seized close to 68,000 pirated DVDs of recently released movies like Always Kabhi Kabhi and Double Dhaamal worth Rs 3.4 million (Rs 33.8 lakhs) across Mumbai and Gujarat. During the same period AACT’s enforcement consultants, along with local police in various areas, have also made close to 40 arrests and plan to make more soon.
On 11 June 2011, 13,209 pirated discs were seized in a music & video corner based in Oshiwara. The team also seized thousands of pirated discs in raids conducted in Andheri (W), Borivali (W) and Nagpada during the month.
AACT’s enforcement consultants, UCPA, also conducted a raid on roadside stalls in Rajkot on 12 June seizing close to 15,000 pirated discs. In a similar raid the team had earlier seized 6,200 pirated discs on 10 June in Rajkot. Seven arrests were made during the raids.
An AACT spokesperson said, “It is important for us to intercept piracy related activities during periods when it is likely to increase. With a large number of movies from both Bollywood and Hollywood being released over the last few weeks, public interest is renewed, presenting an ideal opportunity for movie pirates. We have conducted a high number of raids in this month to ensure that new movies do not make it to roadside stalls selling pirated movies.”
In addition to Mumbai, AACT has been concentrating on expanding its activities on other key markets. The coalition has adopted a multi city approach wherein multiple raids are conducted in one city continuously, which aids in reducing piracy activities. During June, AACT’s raids in Rajkot were a part of this strategy. The coalition will now be adopting the same model in other tier 2 and tier 3 cities across India.
